ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)—Jerry Jones has found another unique way to use his massive Cowboys Stadium. Tennis, anyone?

Six days after Wimbledon, the $1.2 billion stadium will host a pair of best-of-three matches, featuring Serena Williams against Maria Sharapova, and Andy Roddick against John Isner.

The showcase, to be held July 10, is called the Cowboys Tennis Slam and it is being billed as the inaugural event.

In addition to the NFL, Cowboys Stadium already has hosted the NBA All-Star game, soccer and a world title fight. Bull riding is on the agenda this summer.

While the building can hold more than 100,000 people, it will be configured to hold 20,000 for the tennis matches. The court will be set up across one of the end zones.

“We have seen the flexibility our new stadium has for holding spectacular events of all kinds and this event should be like no other,” Jones said. “Being able to attract some of the best tennis players in the world under one roof for a night like this will be something special.”

Williams, Sharapova and Roddick all have been ranked No. 1.

The 6-foot-7 Isner is the second-highest ranked American men’s tennis player behind Roddick, and is known for a serve that can top 140 mph.

This is what I call speaking one's mind. I feel sad about Roddick going out early but this is still darkly humorous.

A Roddick - 28 June 2010 Monday, 28 June 2010

Q. Always the fifth set in Grand Slams. Do you dread the fifth set in a slam these days?

ANDY RODDICK: No.

Q. Obviously a tough one. Anything he did towards the end? Is it just one of those things the ball bounced certain ways, shots went certain ways?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, yeah. The ball bounces and shots land.

You know, I thought he did a good job of controlling the middle of the court all day. You know, his ball was coming in with a lot more behind it than mine. He was switching directions, you know, keeping me off balance, not letting me get set. You know, he was able to execute that for a whole day.

You know, I thought he served better than he has against me before.

That being said, you know, I had shots. I didn't take advantage of 'em.

Q. Did you play as aggressively as you wanted to?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, no. But, I mean, through three sets I was playing horrendously, I mean really, really badly. I mean, to the point where I was trying to think of how to put balls in the court.

Actually, I mean, I think the fifth set was probably the best set that I played as far as hitting the ball, you know, making him struggle to actually get through service games sometimes.

But when you dig yourself a hole, it's tough to get out, when you've given someone confidence, when they have their feet under them a little bit more.

Q. You've played him before. Was he a new guy this time?

ANDY RODDICK: He's not a new guy. He's very good on surfaces that bounce low. He's very good inside of his slot. You know, unfortunately here it's tough to get it out of there. You know, you play high, you run the risk of leaving it short and hanging.

You know, like I said, I think the thing that he did very well ‑ better than times that we played in the past ‑ was serve. I thought he served a lot better than normal.

Q. Are you a bit stunned after something like this or just down?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't think 'stunned' is the right word. You know, I don't view what happens today as an impossibility. I take every match very seriously.

You know, I don't know. I always struggle with how to describe my mood. I mean, there's only so many ways you can say it. So, you know, I'm sure you can use your intuition and reach out and come up with something.

Q. After the fourth‑set breaker, where he got a little bit nervous, you had a couple big serves, thought that maybe in the fifth he'd tighten up a bit. He hasn't been in that position. What were you expecting going into the fifth?

ANDY RODDICK: Uhm, you know, honestly if you would have told me I hit the ball like I did in the fifth, I would have liked my chances at the end of the fourth.

Credit to him, because I got into some games. I make him hit a good pass on breakpoint. He stuck a volley. He hadn't taken a first ball and came in all day and he did it down breakpoint. He played high‑risk, but he executed very well. You know, he had a game plan, he stuck to it, and he deserved to win more than I did. That's for sure.

Q. Any reason why you felt you were down in the first three sets in terms of quality?

ANDY RODDICK: What's the question?

Q. Any reason why you were not hitting the ball that well in the first three sets?

ANDY RODDICK: If I would have had a reason, I probably would have figured it out, right? It didn't feel clean. It didn't feel good.

Q. Was he controlling too much real estate where you couldn't get into net as many times as you wanted to?

ANDY RODDICK: It's tough to come in against a ball that stays low and flat like that. You need some time to set and go. You know, you get him on a surface that is conducive to his swings, he can keep the ball down. It's tough charging off of a ball that's not coming off the ground too much.

So, yeah, I mean, he did a good job of, like I said, controlling the middle of the court. You know, if I was through the middle, he was getting length and driving the ball.

Q. There were patches in the match where you felt like he was reading your serve pretty well? You hit a lot of aces.

ANDY RODDICK: I didn't get broken for five sets. It wasn't my serve. It wasn't my service games. It was my returning. That was crap. It was really bad.

I haven't been broken since the first set against Llodra. So I don't think it was my serve.

Q. Reasonably new court. Does it play different to the other show courts here?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I mean, I think it's different. I don't know how much is the court or just the surroundings and stuff. It's definitely a different feel. You know, but we played the same court. It's the same lines. It's the same deal.

If I want to consider myself a contender for this tournament, I've got to get through that match.

Q. Back to the returning. Were you not reading him the way you wanted to or the ball wasn't coming off the racquet?

ANDY RODDICK: It wasn't coming off the right way. I was fighting it all day. You know, seemed like games where I got good swings on it, he was playing from ahead. He did a good job, as well. I don't know.

I had I think one second serve on a breakpoint. That was there in the fifth when I hit a decent return. He cold‑cocked one, came in, hit an inside‑out stick volley. That was a pretty impressive volley at that point.

You know, I just wasn't doing a good job of converting.

Q. So tomorrow when you wake up, you think you're going to be pissed off, disappointed?

ANDY RODDICK: I'm going to be thrilled. I mean, c'mon.

Q. You've been through these slams before.

ANDY RODDICK: And it never gets easier. Of course I'm going to be pissed off when I wake up tomorrow. I mean, if you got fired from your job, you probably wouldn't wake up the next day in a great mood. I mean, c'mon, let's go. We're better than those questions.

After fighting back to take the 2nd set, Andy (not Murray) gets a thumping in the third. Bird-Man did a good job of nullifying Roddick's serve for most of the match. Just not enough cheap points for Andy to create any sort of real pressure in the match.

He seemed a little clipped in the exit interview.No surprise there.A bit disappointing to see him start the match out snippy with the chair over an alleged missed challenge. He just couldn't let it go and the impact to his focus was obvious.

As I've said about some players, it almost appears to be a defense mechanism for losing. Playing the blame game with an umpire or linesman, when in fact the player has the utmost control over his performance and hence the result of a match.